Kremlin laments new US sanctions after Putin-Obama meeting

The president described moving into a new era where a number of countries have significant cyber capacities, and “frankly we have got more capacity than anybody both offensively and defensively”, he said in an apparent warning to the Russians.

Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin, two titans of the modern times.

The US is in serious need of discussions with Russian Federation where they can focus on mutual enemies like ISIS but they just can’t seem to get past the gaps in trust that that exist between them.

“But given the gap of trust that exists, that is a tough negotiation and we have not closed the gap yet”. Obama urged Kerry and Lavrov to work together in the coming days to get aid to those in need.

Putin told reporters at a separate news conference that talks with the United States and Turkey were continuing concerning Syria and negotiators had made a step forward.

“The important thing is the content that was given to the public”, he said in an interview with Bloomberg published Friday.

The outstanding gaps, the official said, were “technical”, having to do with the implementation of the agreement.

Obama said he and Putin also discussed the security situation in Ukraine and disputes over cyberespionage.

As NPR’s David Welna reported earlier this summer, Secretary of State John Kerry has been pushing for a deal between the USA and Russian Federation that would have the two countries coordinate their military efforts to target mutual enemies in Syria.

The United States and Russia struggled Monday to keep alive negotiations to end the bloodshed between USA -backed rebels and Syria’s Russian-aligned regime.

Obama said “the typical the tone of our meetings are candid, blunt and businesslike and this one was no different”. Erdogan’s spokesman said there were neither objections nor clear signs of support in the meetings. “If we can not get the type of agreement we want, we will walk away from that effort”. But president Barack Obama envisions a world where governments put aside their differences, and their zero-day stockpiles, and stop going after each other.

The official said the USA has been focused on making sure that the agreement allows for a “period of calm so that we can get urgently needed humanitarian assistance to populations that are in need”.

Photos of the session distributed by the Kremlin show the two leaders and aides, including Kerry and US National Security Adviser Susan Rice, seated around a table.

So that’s been a topic of conversation with President Putin as it has been with other countries.

Metin Gurcan, a former major in the Turkish military and an analyst for the Al Monitor online journal, said Washington and Moscow’s divergent agendas in Syria raised serious questions about the viability of the Turkish plans. After an aide scrambled to remove the podium once intended for his bargaining partner, Kerry eventually announced there was no deal – standing alone.

Russian forces have aligned with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to target US-backed opposition fighters that Moscow and Damascus claim are terrorists. Millions have fled the country.

This came just as the Syrian government troops, who are backed by Russian Federation, had the city of Aleppo back under siege.

He said Erdogan had told the two leaders that it was essential “as soon as possible to agree a ceasefire or a truce” for Syria’s northern Aleppo province.

Ahmed Osman, commander of the Sultan Murad rebel group, one of the Turkish-backed forces, told Reuters he would like to see a permanent “safe zone” but that this would require an agreement between Turkey, the United States and Russian Federation.